Arsenal: Francis Coquelin’s Very Existence Defies Wenger

Arsenal have no other defensive midfielder aside from Francis Coquelin. That is Arsene Wenger’s choice. He doesn’t want that type. But Le Coq continues to defy him.

Francis Coquelin has grown to be one of the greatest success stories at Arsenal. He was always a long shot as he was not seen as one of the premier talents coming up in the system. His team mates could attest to his work ethic, but still, what little had been seen of him was less than impressive.

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So he was loaned to Charlton Athletic and in a story we have all come to know and love, called back and turned into the greatest defensive midfielder in England. What disciplinary issues the Frenchman had were quickly done away with by whatever tutelage Wenger could offer and by the end of the year, Arsenal had a defensive machine.

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But perhaps the biggest accomplishment of Francis Coquelin’s ascent to where he is now is the fact that he did it all in spite of Arsene Wenger’s inexplicable predisposition to shun defense-only midfielders. Given the complete lack of offensive qualities that Coquelin has, he is everything that Wenger does not want in an Arsenal midfielder.

Consider the match against Watford. For all intents and purposes, it was an offensive masterclass by Arsenal. But Coquelin was unsurprisingly not a part of the attack. While his passing was mostly positive, one thing stands out. Of his nine passes made in the attacking third, three were failed passes. Those three had one thing in common – they were all in the direction of the goal. Every other pass was dealt out wide.

To expand further on that, 17 of his completed passes were square and 22 were backwards. 71 of his total completed passes were short passes, none of which threatened the box. The arrows say it all – Francis Coquelin has no offensive qualities.

I’m not complaining. I think it’s wonderful to have this guy rampaging about the pitch, redirecting play. But every success he has in this regard has to be seen as a direct defiance of Arsene Wenger, who has time and again stated his distaste for midfielders of Coquelin’s ilk.

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Coquelin has become such a fine-tuned machine that it’s hard to imagine this Arsenal squad without him. It’s no wonder why Gilberto Silva has highlighted him. The two were not so different. Only Silva did score some goals. Coquelin has yet to look a threat.

In that sense, there are three very bold claims we could make in regards to Coquelin. But just to safeguard it and give us a way to back out, I won’t make the claims, I’ll merely lay them out like a hypothesis.

Firstly, Wenger could look to replace Coquelin if he cannot develop any semblance of offensive relevance. Coquelin is simply not a Wenger-type player in the current format. He does one thing well and Wenger is not a fan of that type.

Secondly, Coquelin could develop offensive skills, which would just be so beautiful.

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Thirdly, Coquelin could be a diplomat towards securing more midfielders like him, if his impact can be clearly judged by Wenger. Hard to imagine that it wouldn’t be.